Totally. I can only speak about European history but I know the idea that high infant mortality led to weaker emotional attachments in medieval/early modern Europe has been pretty comprehensively debunked

Nothing this year but should have a few for 2026!

I should say I'm using 'modern' in the historical sense, as in after 1815 😅 (Though I would guess the complete rejection of intervening in 'natural' processes is more like 20thC.) A lot of what's described in the article also seems rooted in a more-or-less explicitly eugenicist vision of life.

...of vaccination in particular, rather than medicine as a whole. The idea that people should go through birth (or fight illness or whatever) without any sort of help as a matter of principle (even if that help often did more harm than good in practice) is what I think is new.

Thanks! I totally agree. By "best medical advice" I very much meant the best somebody had access to *and* felt safe with, definitely not necessarily either what docrors recommended or even what would have had the best outcome given the options available. But e.g. 18thC anti-vaxxers were sceptical...

Cannot wait to see what you think of the conclusion!

No worries. With hindsight that makes a lot more sense. Sorry for misreading it!

Sorry, I just realized I may have misinterpreted your comment – did you mean me or the "free" birthers?

I didn't? It's a grotesque injustice that most people around the world cannot get full, scientifically-sound medical support, but given the choice, the vast majority take the best support that they can get

...humans are fundamentally social creatures. In the vast majority of societies birth was a communal event planned using the community's accumulated experience and wisdom. Insisting parents essentially do it alone is completely at odds with what the vast majority of pre-modern societies practiced.

Try doing it with former German port cities - that will lead you on a merry Gdańsk!

They'll take a long time to un-Reval!

Ah sorry, that comment was about the Sax/Sex distinction! But yes, I knew a handful of the cognates but seeing this led a bunch of others to fall into place.

There may well be some linguistic rule around vowel harmony (or something similar) behind this (though it's certainly beyond my knowledge of German linguistics!)

Thy shalt burn in hell of Aulde English German City Names.